I've used fresh rabbit manure straight in the garden...

I think the rabbit manure will offset any nitrogen take up by the hardwood mulch.

BTW, mulches do use nitrogen but most of their nitrogen comes from the air, air is 78% nitrogen. And mulch on the top of the soil can only get N from the very top layer of soil that it is in contact with... your plants are getting N from the air and their roots. The roots are getting N from layers of soil much deeper than where the mulch is....

In flower beds, it's fine fresh. But in vegetable beds I prefer to compost it first. Technically speaking, no fresh manure is supposed to be used in vegetable beds. Rabbit is sometimes listed as an exception but I would rather be safe than sorry when it comes to food products.

Your choice.

I use heavy layers of hay mulch annually and have only minimal problems with weeds. What few do pop up are easily removed as they are very shallow rooted in the mulch.

Dave

Newbie here. Are you saying I can walk around my yard and use the rabbit droppings in my garden and compost?

Are you saying I can walk around my yard and use the rabbit droppings in my garden and compost?

Not sure who you are asking, so I'll just answer for me. ;)

Rabbit, like all other manures, is a good fertilizer, a good source of nitrogen, and a generally good soil amendment. As I said above, I prefer to compost manures by mixing them in with my compost piles, before using them in vegetable gardens but some do use rabbit fresh, yes. It is usually recommended that all other manures be well composted before use.

Dave

Here is a link that might be useful: Rabbit manure discussions

All manures should be composted before being used. All manures have, potentially, disease pathogens that can make you sick.